Following the announcement from the UK Government last night, we will now be operating from home, and not from the office on Bridge Street. It feels weird to bring the computers home to the house, but the dog (Murphy), is obviously very pleased!
What does this mean for you as landlords, tenants and prospective tenants?
Well, realistically, nothing! We already operate fully online, and the only impact we can see at the moment is the ability to hold viewings, and some maintenance jobs. In terms of paying rent, signing contracts, guarantor agreements etc, all of this is done online and has been done online for 2 years. So there will be no change in our services there.
We run our office using cloud based systems, and so we’ve got access to all of our emails and files, so no change there either. Our social media and website will be still running, and we’ll still be advertising our properties on Zoopla.
In terms of viewings, we will work with you as much as we can to help you decide if the property is suitable for you or not; however, unless the property is vacant, it will be difficult for us to carry out viewings in person.
When it comes to maintenance, we won’t be doing any maintenance other than essential and emergency works while the UK is in lockdown. This is to protect not only you, but our staff and contractors too. If there is an essential or emergency maintenance call out, please expect us to ask questions about the household, and whether or not anyone is showing symptoms of Covid-19, or have recently returned from abroad. Again, please understand this is to protect our staff and contractors during this difficult time.
If you have any questions, or concerns during this time, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. If we can’t help, we’ll try and signpost you in the right direction.
Until we can return to our office – stay safe.